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If you’re looking for a witty, hilarious theatrical experience at a reasonable price (my orchestra seat was only $77), I direct your attention to the 20th anniversary revival of William Finn (music and lyrics) and Rachel Sheinkin’s (Tony winning book) delightful musical, which has been running strong since November off-Broadway. Since I enjoyed it so much 20 years ago, I was afraid to see the revival lest it not hold up to my affectionate memories of the original production. I needn’t have worried: although it may not be as nearly perfect as the Broadway version, it is very good indeed. I didn’t spot an upcoming successor to Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Dan Fogler or Celia Keenan Bolger in the cast, but the present cast is just fine and includes recent Tony winner Alex Newell in a stellar performance as Rona Lisa Peretti, who is managing the event. We meet six tweenagers – Chip Tolentino (Philippe Arroyo), last year’s champion, whose performance this year is affected by his passage through puberty; Missy Clark (u/s Emily N. Rudolph), who is feeling the burdens of expectations of perfection; Leaf Coneybear (Fernell Hogan, a talent to watch), whose family thinks he is not smart; Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Laura Marano), whose gay dads are obsessed with winning; Olive Ostrovsky (u/s Cecilia Snow), whose parents are not there to support her; and William Barfée (standout Julian Sewell), a bullied outsider with a unique way of spelling his words with his foot. We also meet the four brave audience members who volunteered to be in the bee; they ran the gamut of age and gender and their personal characteristics were cleverly incorporated into the show. Spoiler alert: none of the volunteers wins. Matt Manuel plays Mitch Mahoney, the “comfort counselor” who escorts each loser offstage. Jon Cryer portrays Vice Principal Douglas Patch, who reads the contest words and the absolutely hilarious sentences they are used in. The contestants are competing fiercely for the chance to go to the National Spelling Bee in Washington. In his review in The New York Times when the show premiered, Charles Isherwood cleverly described the show as A Chorus Line with pimples. The two shows do share the structure of having each competitor break into song with their back story, but that show, for all its glories, was not a hilarious comedy. Finn’s score is still a treat and Sheinkin’s book is as clever as ever, with a few tweaks to bring it up to the minute. The scenic design by Teresa L. Williams captures the essence of a school gymnasium. Emily Rebholz’s costumes suit each character well. Danny Mefford’s choreography is a treat and his direction is skillful. There are a few moments near the end where things lagged a bit, but not seriously. I was happy to see that there were a lot of young people in the enthusiastic audience. If you want to escape harsh reality for a brief while and enjoy some laughs, I can think of no better place to go than New World Stages to catch this show. Running time: 95 minutes; no intermission.
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